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BERLIN (AP) — Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis says its net profit rose 10 percent in the second quarter, helped by gains from divestments.
Novartis said Tuesday that net earnings rose to $1.98 billion in the April-June period from $1.81 billion a year earlier.
Net sales, however, were down 2 percent, slipping to $12.24 billion from $12.47 billion. While sales grew in terms of volume, Novartis said that revenue took a hit from generic competition and pricing.
The Basel-based company reaffirmed its full-year outlook for net sales is broadly in line with last year's and core operating income also remaining steady or declining by a "low single-digit" percentage.
For the year's first half, net profit was off 5 percent at $3.64 billion and sales slipped 1 percent to $23.78 billion.
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